The
last thing I heard of Markus Schäfer was a recording of Bach’s
St Matthew Passion on Naxos - reviewed a couple of years
ago. I commented then on his expressiveness and this is also
characteristic of his singing on the present disc. “Flexible
and expressive” were the first words I jotted down. I also noted
his plangent tone quality with something of Peter Pears in it.
He works with fine nuances and his half voice is often ravishing.
When he employs the full voice the tone sometimes becomes harder
and he has some hallmarks, the most obvious one being his tendency
to squeeze the tone and slide on the notes. It isn’t a portamento,
since that implies sliding from one note to the next - Schäfer
often slides on the note. This can be expressive for
certain purposes, to create a humoristic or ironiceffect,
but it can also give the impression of faltering intonation.
Sometimes it induces a feeling of seasickness. There is no doubt
though that these are well considered readings and Schäfer isn’t
afraid of sacrificing beauty of tone for expressiveness. In
that respect he reminds me of Peter Schreier - one of the most
important Lieder singers for forty years.

The
series is scheduled to be completed during 2008. And as with
most discs in this series the majority of the songs are relative
rarities. Maybe the only one that can be counted as ‘standard
repertoire’ is Sei mir gegrüsst (tr. 13), which is here
given a worthy reading. But in almost any Schubert song there
is something of interest, something that catches the ear. Lied
des Florio (tr. 10) from a play by Christian Wilhelm von
Schütz, is charming and I look forward to hearing the first
of these two songs, which is promised for release on Romantic
Poets, Vol. 3 (8.557832). The lively setting of Hänflings
Liebeswerbung (tr. 11) with its virtuoso accompaniment is
also nice.

There
are no less than nine songs to texts by Theodor Körner, who
is also the cover boy for this issue. This poet, dramatist and
soldier died in 1813, aged 22, during the Napoleonic Wars. He
met the young Schubert when he came to Vienna in 1811. Most
of Schubert’s settings of Körner’s poetry are early works, written
in 1815, with the exception of Auf der Riesenkoppe (tr.
1) from three years later, which is also the best known of these
songs. I was quite captivated by Das gestörte Glück (tr.
9) in ¾ time, where Markus Schäfer’s excellent enunciation is
a great asset.

Ulrich
Eisenlohr is a splendid accompanist as he has been throughout
this series. Texts and translations are available only on the
internet. The recording quality is everything one could wish.
Eisenlohr provides his own liner-notes; not as comprehensive
as Graham Johnson’s for the corresponding Hyperion series but
splendidly informative.

Readers
who feel ambivalent concerning Schäfer’s style of singing should
try to listen before buying. On the Naxos
website it is possible to get a free subscription which allows
you to listen to 25% of each track. That should be enough to make
a decision.

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